My Own Personal City

WE'D 7/14 -- Rawlins to Jeffrey City (69)
A long ride, but not quite as windy as the last few days. I actually
found this ride less difficult than the previous day's 25-mile-shorter
ride.

About 20 miles out of Rawlins we dropped -- and I mean we REALLY
dropped -- down into the Great Basin Divide, which is a huge, flat
expanse of pretty much absolutely nothing. It's considered a special
feature of the continental divide, even though it's a space, not a
line, because no water flows out of it. It was not a place to have a
bike problem -- or any other kind of problem, for that matter. Even
though it was windy (a headwind, of course), I think we caught a big
break weather-wise because it was relatively cool. It felt like an
area that could, under the right (wrong) conditions, be extremely hot.
But it wasn't.

We emerged from the basin after 25 miles or so, after which we rode
through starkly beautiful, mostly western-range-type terrain -- rocky
and sagebrush-y with mountains in the distance on either side. And, at
the end of the day, snow-capped peaks came into view in the far
distance in front of us. Frequent sightings of pronghorn antelope --
even by me, Mr Oblivious when it comes to wildlife. About 10-15 miles
from Jeffrey City we came upon Split Rock, which, from a distance
looked like just another massive rock formation. But it turns out it
was a vital signpost on the Oregon Trail -- see photo of descriptive
marker, with Split Rock itself visible in the far background. On the
other side, the western side, the split was easily visible for 25-30
miles.

In Jeffrey City (pop 106) we stayed at the Top Hat Motel, which opened
its doors especially for our group. Thank you, Top Hat. An astounding
place, the Top Hat. Michael had prepped us the night before: "Think of
the worst motel you've ever stayed in, and then multiply that by 10."
That was about right from the outside -- see photographic evidence.
But on the inside, not bad -- running water, including hot running
water in several of the rooms, flush toilets, beds with what appeared
to be clean linens, working electrical outlets here and there; home
for the night, in other words. The Top Hat, in Jeffrey City -- I'm
sure I'll never forget it.